housing affordability
Missing Middle Zoning Reform Advances in the Vermont Legislature
The Vermont State Senate voted unanimously to approve legislation that would reduce barriers to more compact residential development. The Vermont House of Representatives is up next.
The Equity Case for Upzoning Wealthy Neighborhoods
New York City has completed a series of rezoning processes focused mostly on lower-income areas in the city. Here's what it would take to upzone wealthier parts of the city, and why the city should make it happen.
New Zealand Eliminates Parking Minimums and Height Limits to Increase Urban Infill
Once again, New Zealand shows the way! The national government's new urban development policy will eliminate off-street parking requirements and remove low height-limits near transit stations to encourage more efficient infill development.
Roswell, Georgia Limits Multi-Family Development Despite Affordability Concerns
The Roswell City Council discussed how limiting multi-family developments could increase housing costs, and then voted to limit multi-family development anyway.
Pro-Development Coalition Forms in Connecticut
DesegregateCT is a growing coalition of groups coalescing behind ideas like Missing Middle Housing and zoning reform as a means to improved housing affordability.
Mapping Eviction Risk
Millions of renters are at risk of eviction as federal support runs out and the economic realities of the pandemic take hold.
From 60 Affordable Senior Apartments to 16 $5 Million Homes
A long development saga has finally concluded in the South Bay Area city of Palo Alto, following a common narrative in the development resistant city.
More Housing Could Increase Affordability If You Build It in the Right Places
Focusing on zoning in hot-market urban centers misses economic realities—and major opportunities.
How to Treat Housing as a Human Right
SPUR's housing report, "What Will it Really Take to Create an Affordable Bay Area," found that it will take 2.2 million units in the next 50 years to avoid worsening housing inequality.
Silver Spring Downtown Plan Expanding to Make Room for the Missing Middle
Planners are hoping that by expanding the boundaries of the Silver Spring Downtown Plan in Montgomery County, Maryland, new opportunities for missing middle housing will create new opportunities for housing affordability.
Laying the Groundwork for Cheaper Multi-Family Housing Construction
The processes of clearing land, building foundations, and making space for parking are three of the most expensive components of the construction process. Zoning can help reduce the costs to deliver more affordable housing supply.
Renters Living in Small Buildings Face the Steepest Economic Risks in the Pandemic
Renters in smaller multi-family buildings and single-family homes are faced with larger economic challenges during the pandemic, according to new analysis by researchers at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.
1,000-Plus Mixed-Income Units Planned in Miami
A planned development made possible by a ground lease with the county could add over a thousands mixed income units to the housing market in Miami.
Housing Justice Organizers Don’t Want to Return to 'Normal'
As they organize for immediate relief for those whose housing was affected by the pandemic, tenant leaders are also building power to demand long-term changes.
The COVID-19 Housing Crisis and the Housing Affordability Crisis Have the Same Solutions
The solutions for the U.S. housing crisis caused by the economic wreckage of COVID-19 will also provide relief in the future, according to this article.
Increase Housing Supply Softened Rent Increases in D.C., Study Says
A study recently published by the District of Columbia offers supporting evidence to a supply-side approach to housing affordability in high-demand markets.
Texas Losing its Housing Affordability Advantage
Trends pre-dating Covid-19 showed housing affordability slipping away from many residents in Texas. The pandemic will likely only exacerbate the trend, according to this analysis.
Experts Expect Rent to Drop, Along With Incomes
There is no silver lining in the news that experts expect the cost of rental housing to decline as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Economic Argument for Historic Preservation in L.A.: Older Housing is Affordable Housing
Donovan Rypkema and Adrian Scott Fine highlight myth-busting findings on the impacts of historic preservation overlay zones (HPOZs) on affordability, density, diversity, and economic resilience of neighborhoods across Los Angeles.
How Much Does it Cost to Rent an Apartment, Anyway?
Geoff Boeing of the University of Southern California writes about a recent article he co-authored in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
Pagination
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority